Traffic Restrictions Over Hells Canyon Dam

Traffic Restrictions Over Hells Canyon Dam

September 21, 2017

OXBOW, Oregon — Traffic over Hells Canyon Dam will be restricted Monday and Tuesday next week and during the following week while crews use heavy equipment to remove stoplogs from the dam’s spill gates.

On Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 25–26, traffic will be reduced to one lane, and motorists could experience delays of up to 30 minutes between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. MDT.

Flaggers will direct traffic. All Idaho Power operations are conducted on Mountain Time.

The following week, Oct. 2–4, the road will be closed to all traffic during the following times:
Oct. 2: Road closed 7:30-10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
Oct. 3: Road closed 7:30 a.m.-noon and 1–5 p.m.
Oct. 4: Road closed 7:30–10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
If work is completed ahead of schedule, one-lane traffic could be restored on Oct. 4.

Stoplogs are long rectangular beams that are stacked in front of the dam’s spill gates to control water flow. Located 21 miles downstream of Oxbow Dam, Idaho Power’s Hells Canyon Dam began generating electricity in 1967 and has a nameplate generating capacity of 391,500 kilowatts.

About Idaho Power:
Idaho Power, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, and locally operated since 1916, is an electric utility that employs more than 2,000 people who serve approximately 535,000 customers throughout a 24,000-square-mile area in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. With 17 low-cost hydroelectric projects as the core of its diverse generation portfolio, Idaho Power’s residential, business and agricultural customers pay among the nation’s lowest rates for electricity. IDACORP, Inc (NYSE: IDA), Idaho Power’s independent publicly traded parent company, is also headquartered in Boise, Idaho. To learn more, visit idahopower.com or idacorpinc.com.